Articles

Interreg NEXT MED 2nd Call for Proposals on Green Transition Projects | Deadline 15 April 2025

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The Interreg NEXT MED Programme is pleased to announce the official launch of the Call for Green Transition Projects, providing €83.7 million in European Union’s funding to address climate challenges across the Mediterranean region.

The call aims to support innovative and collaborative solutions to address crucial climate challenges across the Mediterranean region. The deadline for submitting project proposals is 15th of April 2025 (1pm, CET).

Building on the success of the first call for proposals, which saw 630 projects submitted, this second call aims to drive scalable, innovative, and collaborative solutions, reflecting a collective ambition of the 15 participating countries for a low-carbon, climate-resilient Mediterranean. It addresses the region’s pressing climate challenges, as it is warming 20% faster than the global average.

The call focuses on key environmental sectors such as energy efficiency, circular economy, climate adaptation and disaster resilience, and sustainable water management. It also expands to other critical areas, including SMEs’ decarbonization, green innovation, skills for climate resilience, health system adaptation to climate change, and inclusive governance for effective climate policies.

Geographical coverage of the call extends to over 100 territories from 7 European Union and 8 partner countries, namely Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Türkiye. To harness the benefits of transnational cooperation for accelerating the Mediterranean region’s green transition, each project must involve a partnership of at least three organizations from three different eligible countries, with at least one partner from a Mediterranean Partner Country.

The call is open to a wide range of stakeholders, including national and regional public authorities, municipalities, non-profit and civil society organizations, universities, research institutions, private companies, and other relevant entities.

The financial dimension of proposals ranges from €700,000 to €3.5 million, depending on the project type – green transformation or eco-youth. These latest, granted €16 million (corresponding to 20% of the budget of the call for proposals), aim to empower youth in the green transition through projects designed  by young people for young poeple and involving youth-led/oriented organizations as key project partners.

The Programmme contribution covers 89% of the total eligible costs, requiring project co-financing of the remaining 11%.

More information:  visit the call website page on the Interreg NEXT MED website

 

MedBAN 2 open calls for Blue Economy SMEs (internationalisation and innovation) | Deadline 28 August 2024

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Deadline: 28 August 2024
Budget:  Total €1.4 M | 8.965 per SME for Consulting or Training Services
Countries: EU-27, except Portugal, Spain, France, Greece, and Italy

MedBAN (the Mediterranean Blue Acceleration Network) deployed two simultaneous but separate open calls for EU Blue Economy SMEs.

These open calls are awarded financial support that funds two different sets of services: one for innovation, training and twin transformation of businesses and one for internationalisation actions.

Read all details by clicking the respective links

Innovation, Training and Twin Transition in the Blue Economy
Internationalisation in the Blue Economy

For more information about the MedBan project visit the project website

IMERMAID Open Call to safeguard the Mediterranean Sea from chemical pollution | Deadline: 17 September 2024

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Deadline:  17 Sept 2024
Budget/ Technical Assistance: € 400.000 (100.000 per project) | 9 months technical assistance
Countries/ regions: a.o. Algeria, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Portugal Tunisia
More information: website

 

The iMERMAID project is thrilled to announce the launch of an open call for Associated Regions to participate in its groundbreaking initiative aimed at protecting the Mediterranean Sea basin from chemical pollution.

This open call invites regional and local public authorities located in EU Member States and Associated Regions to propose use cases that address their specific challenges and objectives, aligning with the goals of iMERMAID.

The selected projects should demonstrate the feasibility, replicability, and scalability of the iMERMAID solutions. In total, €400,000 will be invested in Open Call #1 to fund and support four associated regions projects that will join this vital mission.

 

Community-led actions to restore our ocean, seas and waters | Deadline 18 Sept 2024

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Deadline:  18 Sept 2024
Budget/ Technical Assistance: € 50.000.000
Countries/ regions: a.o. all WestMED countries
More information: website


This call aims to mobilize communities of actors across the European Union to take decisive action in restoring, protecting, and preserving our ocean, seas, and waters. The call will support community-led pilot actions and transition agendas, as well as provide technical assistance tailored to the needs of Mission communities. Community-led actions will focus on implementing innovative solutions that transcend traditional approaches, incorporating technological, nature-based, social, cultural, regulatory, and financial innovations.

Additionally, the call encourages collaboration with scientific institutions and the integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines to ensure the societal impact of innovation activities. Applicants are encouraged to foster partnerships with local stakeholders, NGOs, government agencies, and relevant actors to maximize the impact and scalability of their initiatives.

Technical assistance to support communities of actors to achieve the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters objectives | Deadline 22 May 2024

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Deadline:  24 May 2024
Budget: technical assistance (non financial)
Countries: European/ Mission lighthouses basins (Mediterranean,  Atlantic and Arctic basin,Baltic and North Sea basin, Danube River basin)
More information: dedicated funding page


Objective
The objective of the technical assistance is to support selected applicants in developing and strengthening their actions contributing to one or more of the targets of the Mission Ocean and Waters. By participating in this call for technical assistance, selected projects will gain access to technical assessments and feasibility studies. The technical assistance shall match the needs, capacity, and interests of applicants, providing tailored expert support for applicants’ projects on key dimensions such as regulatory, technical, economic, operational, environmental, and commercial feasibility. The feasibility studies will provide an assessment of the overall viability of projects, defining risks, opportunities, and probability of success and analysing whether the planned projects are legally, technically, financially, economically, operationally, environmentally, and commercially justifiable and feasible. The studies shall also provide recommendations on how to improve the feasibility of selected actions. Through the technical assistance, selected beneficiaries will gain a clearer understanding of the project feasibility and/or requirements to scale up and further develop the project. 

Eligibility
The Call for Expression of Interest seeks to collect applications from relevant communities of actors, who wish to contribute to the objectives of the Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’ in one of the EU Mission lighthouses basins. Applicants must be from one of the three target communities: ports, fisheries, islands. Actions must be located within the Mission lighthouses basins (Mediterranean, Atlantic, Arctic, Danube, and North & Baltic Sea). 

Duration
The typical duration of the technical assistance delivery is between 4-6 months, commencing after the notification of selection. 

Interreg NEXT MED: first call for proposals for transnational cooperation projects | New deadline 30 May 2024

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Deadline:  30 May 2024 (= extended/ was 30 April and 28 March)
Budget: € 103.600.000
Countries: Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Türkiye.
More information: website interregnextmed.eu | extension message

 

The Managing Authority of the EU-funded Interreg NEXT MED Programme, in agreement with the representatives of the 15 participating countries, is pleased to announce the launching of the first call for proposals.

With a substantial budget of €103.6 million, this call represents a unique opportunity to fund transnational cooperation projects aimed at catalyzing positive transformations and encouraging sustainable and inclusive development throughout the Mediterranean area.

In view of making the region smarter and more competitive, greener and climate resilient, more social and inclusive, the call focuses on pivotal themes for both shores of the Mediterranean: these encompass boosting research and innovation capacities, fostering SME growth, advancing renewable energy solutions, bolstering climate change adaptation measures, promoting educational opportunities, ensuring access to quality healthcare, and enhancing local governance processes, among others.

Geographical coverage of the call extends to over 100 territories from 7 EU and 8 partner countries, namely Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Türkiye.

Recognizing the unique added value of working together beyond borders for the development of the Mediterranean area, each project has to be submitted by a partnership representing a minimum of 3 organizations from 3 different eligible countries, including at least one Mediterranean Partner Country. A diverse array of stakeholders, including national and regional public authorities, municipalities, non-profit/civil society organizations, universities, research organizations, private companies and other relevant entities may participate in the call.

Depending on the type of projects foreseen for this call – thematic, youth-oriented and governance – the EU financial support will range from €500,000 to €2.5 million. The EU contribution cannot exceed 89% of the project total eligible costs and the project co-financing must be at least 11% of the total eligible costs.

The launching of the call will be supported by a series of information events and other activities dedicated to interested organizations to be organized across the cooperation area and online. Foreseen iniatives and dates will be announced soon on this website.

The deadline for submitting project proposals is 30 April 2024 .

Interested organisations are encouraged to carefully read the application pack of the call for proposals available here.

MEDTOUR announcement poster

Note: Interreg NEXT MED organizes a  series of national info days designed to ensure interested organizations are thoroughly prepared and well-informed for effective participation in this first call for proposals. Visit the MEDTOUR page for the events near you

Maritime Spatial Planning projects (EMFAF-2023-PIA-MSP) | Deadline 27 February 2024

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Deadline: 27 February 2024
Budget: € 4.000.000
Countries: Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
More information:   funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission 

 

Objective

The objective of this call for proposals is to facilitate the implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) in the EU, including through the effective application of Directive 2014/89 establishing a framework for MSP. This call is intended to fund projects developing innovative responses to tackle specific challenges that EU Members States might encounter when putting into effect, monitoring and/or revising their maritime spatial plans.

Many of these challenges are common to coastal Member States. Therefore, there is a shared interest in developing innovative responses that can apply within a sea basin and/or across sea basins. This means that projects should bring together participants from different Member States, located in a sea basin, or from different sea basins. To meet these challenges Member States will have to:

  • Reflect and align their maritime spatial plans to the ambition of the European Green Deal and the related initiatives in areas such as climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, biodiversity, food, mobility, energy transition, alongside established activities and interests.
  • Cater for cumulative impacts of ocean stressors: promote the use of an ecosystem-based approach, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), strengthen the process of the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs), which are an integral part of MSP and promote environmental monitoring to collect data and asses impacts (e.g. on offshore renewable energies).
  • Reinforce the sea basin dimension of MSP: meeting the above-mentioned challenges, and integrating the new EU initiatives, will require greater cooperation in planning activities in the different sea basins.
  • Making MSP digital and pan-European: The aim of this « digitalisation » is to harmonise data and to disseminate the contents of these plans through a common or shared digital platform – the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet).

Maritime ports: studies, works or mixed | Deadline: 30 January 2024

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Deadline: 30 January 2024
Budget: € 2.800.000.000
Countries: France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain
More information: Funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission

Objective

The objective is to develop transport infrastructure projects in maritime ports on the Core Network of the TEN-T.

Scope

Studies and / or works on core maritime ports, related to:

• port access aiming at providing safe maritime access in the form of breakwaters, access channels, fairways, locks and navigational aids (e.g. radar, buoys);
• basic port infrastructure, which are not covered under section 6.2.2 ‘Actions related to sustainable and multimodal mobility’ of the Work Programme, and with a priority on:

– development of zero or low-emission multimodal solutions;
– development of ports´ capacities and facilities in relation with the transportation activities of the offshore wind farms. The involvement of the maritime port in the transportation activities of the offshore wind farms and the need for the basic port infrastructure for those activities should be demonstrated in the proposal; or,
– improving connectivity of remote, insular or outermost regions or of Member States with no land border with another Member State.

Such basic port infrastructure may be in the form of turning basins, quay walls, berths, jetties, backfills, land reclamation, which improve the efficiency of the maritime ports and their integration within the TEN-T network. The backfills and land reclamation could be supported as interventions to create space for construction of other basic port infrastructure, e.g. a berth, quay walls, etc, but should not lead to significant added capacity (i.e. increased surface of or creation of new terminals, logistics/cargo handling areas, etc.).

• shore-side electricity supply (including an upgrade of electrical grid within the port if it is needed for the shore-side electricity supply);
• port reception facilities for oil and other waste (including residues from exhaust gas cleaning systems) to meet environmental requirements;
• ensuring year-round navigability by means of capital dredging and icebreaking facilities. The capital dredging will be supported only as an intervention to remove bottlenecks for the EU short sea shipping;
• providing or improving inland waterways/road/rail access and connections within maritime ports. The rail access could cover rail infrastructure e.g., new rail tracks, upgrade of existing rail tracks, adaptation for 740 meter long trains and connections within the maritime ports.

Works projects may include on-site renewable energy generation (synergetic element in accordance with Section 10.6 of the Work Programme), such as photovoltaic power plants, wind turbines etc. that is primarily used for example for the shore-side electricity supply, for the need of the basic port infrastructure and for diverse port operations. Such synergetic elements must improve the socioeconomic, climate or environmental benefits of the project and may not exceed 20% of the total eligible costs of the project.

EU Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism | Deadline: 7 December 2023

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Deadline: 7 December 2023
Budget: €2.600.000
Countries: European
More information:   funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission 

Description:

The subject of this call for tenders is the provision of support to the Commission, Member States, the aquaculture industry and other stakeholders in the implementation of the Communication “Strategic guidelines for a more sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture for the period 2021-2030″ by providing logistic, administrative and technical support and by enhancing cooperation between Member States and stakeholders for the development of sustainable aquaculture in the EU.

Demonstrations of innovative floating wind concepts | Deadline: 21 January 2025

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Deadline: 21 January 2025
Budget: €30.000.000
Countries: Algeria,France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
More information:   funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission 

Scope

The overall aim is to accelerate the cost-effective construction and deployment of floating wind farms, facilitating their rapid and sustainable deployment across Europe and lower their overall costs.

The transition of the energy system will rely on reducing the overall energy demand and making the energy supply side climate neutral, in current and future climate conditions. R&I actions will help to make the energy supply side cleaner, more secure, and competitive by boosting cost performance and reliability of a broad portfolio of renewable energy solutions, in line with societal needs and preferences. Furthermore, R&I activities will underpin the modernisation of the energy networks to support energy system integration, including the progressive electrification of demand side sectors (buildings, mobility, industry) and integration of other climate neutral, renewable energy carriers, such as clean hydrogen.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Increased knowledge about design, construction, assembly and operation and maintenance of floating wind farms.
  • Improved overall constructability, reliability, installability, operability and maintainability of floating offshore wind systems.
  • Demonstrated efficient, low-cost and sustainable emerging technologies for floating wind turbines; reduction of the LCoE.
  • Reinforced European offshore wind turbine value chain and skills.
  • Data for future optimisation of industry scale commissioning of the floater, mooring and anchor system.